24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - September 11, 2022 (Catholic Charities Appeal)

Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14 +  Psalm 51 +  1 Timothy 1: 12-17 +  Luke 15: 1-32

The context of these 3 “Lost and Found Parables” in Luke’s Gospel is that the Pharisees and the scribes are complaining that Jesus is welcoming sinners and eating with them.
The “religious” people of Jesus’ day criticize him for hanging out with those they think do not deserve God’s attention, much less God’s care.
Jesus’ behavior is scandalous, a stumbling block to the scribes and Pharisees.
So, to them he addresses these joy-filled parables of the Shepherd finding the Lost Sheep, 
the Woman searching for and finding the Lost Coin, 
and the Father going out to his Lost Sons.

In the third parable, one of the most famous parables of Jesus, it’s almost as if 
Jesus is saying to the religious folk of his day, 
“I learned this scandalous behavior from my Heavenly Father.”
The behavior of the father in this parable is scandalous in a patriarchal society 
such as in 1st century Israel.
The expectation would be that the youngest son who wasted everything 
would come to groveling in his shame to his father.

But no, it is the father who hikes up his robes and flies to his son.
It is the father who runs out to welcome his lost son home.
It’s as if the father has been waiting and watching on the front porch every day, 
longing and yearning for his son’s return.
When he does, it’s time to party, it’s time to rejoice, 
because the lost son has been found again in his father’s embrace.  

Then there are those who are like the elder son in the parable, the self-righteous 
who close their hearts to the marvelous mercy of our Heavenly Father, 
which is available free of charge to all who need it.  

This is what mercy looks like—it is a completely pure gift from heaven above.
This is what mercy looks like---it is not deserved nor earned by anything we do.
In fact, it would not be mercy if it was deserved.
The merciful love of the Father for all his wayward children does not make sense.
It certainly is not the way the world as we experience it operates.
In a world powered by pride and selfishness, a world that urges retaliation 
for every single slight, the mercy of God is downright scandalous.
God’s mercy given freely to us in Christ defies our fallen human logic.
Whoever heard of a God who runs to welcome sinners 
before they have a chance to repent?
Or a God who forgives sins which we think are unforgiveable?
Or a God who sits down at table with sinners 
and gives them a share in His very own life?
As Jesus’ life and death and resurrection reveal, 
the merciful love of God is unexplainable, unfathomable, and free-flowing.

Disciples of Jesus who are transformed by the gift of his mercy, who sit down with him at this table and receive a share in His Risen Life, share his great gift of mercy with others.
That’s the way mercy works---we cannot be changed by God’s mercy 
unless we give it away.

This mercy is made manifest by how followers of the Merciful One 
care for people who are poor, for those who are refugees, 
for the men and women and children who are homeless and in great need.
Those who are not disciples look upon these people with Pharisaical eyes 
and closed hearts, thinking that the poor are “gaming the system,” 
so that they do not deserve assistance.

But disciples who have experienced new life because of God’s merciful love in Christ share what they have with those in need without ever considering 
if they “deserve” it or not.
Because what we know is that none of us “deserves” anything, none of us 
have “earned” anything, that all we have, and are, is a gift from our Merciful God.

So, we step forward today by way of the annual Catholic Charities Appeal 
to lift up the downtrodden by our generosity.   That’s what mercy does!
We share the mercy we have received by lifting up those crushed by life’s trials.
As we do so, more mercy flows into our lives….

As we reach out today to care for those in central and western Oklahoma
who are hurting and in need, we recognize one other truth.
The Risen Christ touches others with merciful love through our hands.
He runs out to greet those lost in the troubles of this world by using our feet.
Christ Jesus, by the power of His Spirit, uses our bodies 
to bring his life-giving mercy into the world today.